Frequently Asked Questions

Does Fairfax County regulate cable rates?

Fairfax County does not regulate rates for cable television
service. Federal law prevents local governments from regulating
cable rates where there is "effective competition" as
defined by federal law. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC)
ruled in March 2007 that there was "effective competition"
in the County. If you have questions about the rates charged by a
cable operator, contact the
Communications Policy and Regulation Division or call 703-324-5902,
TTY 711.

What do the “franchise fees” and “Public, Educational and
Government (PEG) support” charges on my cable bill mean?

Fairfax County’s cable franchise
agreements require the cable operators to pay for the use of
the public rights-of-way through franchise fees and support for
Public, Educational and Government (PEG) cable channels. Federal
law allows the cable operators to pass on these fees to
subscribers. A portion of these fees goes to support Channel 16,
the Fairfax County government channel, and the government
institutional network.

Do I have a choice of cable providers?

The county issues only non-exclusive franchises for cable
television service. The Board of Supervisors revised the County
Code to make it easier for competitive cable service providers to
enter the market. Fairfax County currently administers three cable
franchises. Comcast Cable provides cable television service to
subscribers in the Reston area of Fairfax County. Cox
Communications provides cable television service to subscribers in
all other areas of the county. Verizon provides cable service in
certain areas of the County overlapping those served by Cox and
Comcast.

Why have WMPT and WHUT been removed from analog service on the
Cox system?

On June 12, 2009 Public Broadcasting Station (PBS) affiliates WMPT
and WHUT moved from Cox’s analog basic tier to digital-only
carriage. This change was made as a result of a voluntary
agreement between APTS (the Association of Public Television
Stations) and NCTA (the National Cable and Telecommunications
Association) in late 2008. Although the Federal
Communications Commission (FCC) has not issued a specific ruling on
this agreement, the FCC has taken no action to prevent it from
taking effect.

As a result of the APTS-NCTA agreement, WHUT and WMPT have given
up their “must carry” rights to transmission on the analog
tier. In return, they will now be able to transmit several
digital channels or streams of programming, rather than just one
analog channel.

Because WHUT and WMPT are no longer carried in analog form, some
subscribers will now need to obtain set-top boxes to view those
channels. Prior to June 12, 2009, subscribers with Cox’s
analog service that had older analog (non-digital) TVs were able to
receive WHUT and WMPT without a set-top box (if the TVs were
cable-ready), or using only an analog set-top box (if the TVs were
not cable-ready). Those subscribers will now need a digital
set-top box to view WHUT and WMPT. To ease this transition,
Cox has offered a basic version of its digital set-top box to
subscribers for free for up to 6 months.

Although Cox now carries WHUT and WMPT only in digital form, WETA,
a PBS affiliate with studios in Arlington, VA, retains its primary
channel (Channel 26-1) in the basic analog tier in Fairfax County
as Channel 26. This channel continues to be viewable to all
basic analog tier subscribers.

The voluntary agreement between APTS and NCTA is similar to
“must-carry” agreements that are typically negotiated by commercial
stations. The “must-carry” rules do not strictly apply to the
PBS stations: they are noncommercial educational television
stations or “NCE,” with different rights under federal law.
But the APTS-NCTA agreement can be seen as similar to a commercial
must-carry agreement, under which a broadcast station and a cable
company agree on the terms by which the broadcast channel is
carried. This view is consistent with the fact that the FCC
has not objected to the agreement, but has allowed it to take
effect.

Where can I find the cable franchise agreements and county
ordinance pertaining to cable regulation?